The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine increased defence spending by more than UAH 300 billion.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted a law to increase state budget expenditures in 2023 by more than UAH 300 billion, mainly for defense.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the Verkhovna Rada's Finance Committee.
According to him, bill No. 10038 was generally supported by 313 MPs.
According to Roksolana Pidlasa, the head of the Budget Committee, after 11.5 hours of discussion in the Rada and voting for amendments, no significant changes were made to the bill.
The law increases this year's budget expenditures by UAH 317 billion.
UAH 303 billion is allocated for defense, including:
+UAH 195.7 billion for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
+UAH 39.7 billion for the National Guard
+UAH 20.4 billion for the State Border Guard Service,
+UAH 19 billion for the National Police,
+UAH 13.2 billion for the purchase and modernization of military equipment and weapons for the Armed Forces,
+UAH 4.4 billion - to the Ministry of Strategic Industry for the production of weapons and ammunition in Ukraine,
+UAH 4.2 billion - to the Security Service of Ukraine,
+UAH 2.5 billion - the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine,
+UAH 2.1 billion to the State Special Transport Service of the Ministry of Defense,
+ UAH 570.2 million - to the State Special Communications Service,
+ UAH 500.7 million - to the Foreign Intelligence Service,
+ UAH 230.5 million - to the State Protection Department,
+UAH 151 million - remuneration for cadets of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
At the same time, the amount of the increase in expenditures for the Bureau of Economic Security was reduced by UAH 95.2 million (to UAH 220 million) for the second reading.
In addition, expenditures are increased for:
+ UAH 16.5 billion - housing allowance for internally displaced persons,
+UAH 5.97 billion - for "rapid recovery" (EU grant),
+UAH 1.2 billion - for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular, for diplomatic missions in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, as well as for supporting Ukraine in cases against Russia in the International Court of Justice and the Arbitration Tribunals for the Law of the Sea,
+UAH 552.8 million for the publication of school textbooks for grades 5 and 6.
Other expenditures are planned to be cut by UAH 11.4 billion, mainly due to a reduction in public debt service (by UAH 10.7 billion).
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft budget for 2024 and prioritized defense, which will account for half of the budget. UAH 1 trillion 685 billion will be allocated for defense and security.
Tags: Politics russia ukraine war the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
